Bikehub Business Unfair to Small Dealers?

[superspy]

24 minutes ago, Hairy said:

Bike Hub are free to charge what they want, in the manner that they want for people to use their platform to perform business / make money.

IF this does not sit well with you, go use Market Place, or the like.

As a business you are here making money of the users on this site, you are not contributing, but taking. 

So if you have been asked a fee to ply your trade here, and that fee is used to grow this platform and maintain the rather skilled and dedicated staff to keep the platform going .... they pay or go play elsewhere.

I agree Bikehub can charge what they want, never disagreed (hard to explain a point using an online forum).
 

I was just trying to explain that putting the same cost per ad for dealers isn’t actually that bad. This is because the “effort”/“cost” Bikehub goes through for the ad is the same whether the ad is R100k or R1k (i.e. both allow for some photos and a description to be uploaded). So to it would be difficult to argue a % based charge to dealers in my opinion (and obviously not my decision).

Also I’m not a dealer so I don’t really mind what happens with dealers, just wanted to add my 2 cents on a blowing up thread 😅😂

[Flemish Lion]

It's been a while that I read a Bikehub thread

 

All I can think of is DOT ("Do the right thing") ... not that complicated!!

 

But agree, if others get away with it, why not - LOL

[AR SLABBERT]

I think a lot of people forget just how good we have it with BikeHub. I work with bicycle insurance claims internationally, and the alternatives out there don’t even come close. The UK has BikeSoup, which is… well, soup. The US/Canada has PinkBike, which is decent, but nowhere near as refined as BikeHub when it comes to the buy/sell experience.

BikeHub gives us a safe, structured place to trade in a second-hand market that normally offers very little protection. Being able to check a buyer’s or seller’s rating is a feature we all use. Personally, I won’t deal with anyone who has no Hub ratings at all. Most of us here have been burned on Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree, OLX, and the rest, so the difference speaks for itself.

At the end of the day, BikeHub is a business with staff to financially support. I’ll happily pay a small fee if it means keeping the platform secure, functional, and trustworthy. I’d much rather that than “saving” a few rand and losing the only decent safe-trading space we have. Keep it up @Nick and the rest of the BikeHub Team, you've got my continued support like many of us Hubbers.

[Hairy]

1 hour ago, superspy said:

I agree Bikehub can charge what they want, never disagreed (hard to explain a point using an online forum).
 

I was just trying to explain that putting the same cost per ad for dealers isn’t actually that bad. This is because the “effort”/“cost” Bikehub goes through for the ad is the same whether the ad is R100k or R1k (i.e. both allow for some photos and a description to be uploaded). So to it would be difficult to argue a % based charge to dealers in my opinion (and obviously not my decision).

Also I’m not a dealer so I don’t really mind what happens with dealers, just wanted to add my 2 cents on a blowing up thread 😅😂

For all we know the more expensive adds are subsidizing the cheaper ones?

Only Admin will know.

[Blokeonabike]

I really enjoyed this thread. 
Please share your ads @Mo79

 

[hansolo]

Also really interested in seeing his ads...

Some of these “dealers” seem to slap together bikes with random parts just lying around. Some of these bike has repaired or poorly resprayed frames and could be a ticking timebomb to an unsuspecting buyer.

One of these “dealers” even advertised a bike as a name brand because it “looked like” it and I should have just reported him instead of trying to help.

Thanks @Nick and your team Bikehub is still a nice platform. 

[Shebeen]

The Secret diary of Adrian @Mo79, aged 13 and three quarters:

Monday 17th November

 

10:15 PM

I have just had enough of the BikeHub policy with dealer registration. They want me to pay as a dealer, and even though I now have 5 different profiles to jump through their hoops and avoid costs it is still just not fair on a small scale guy like me.

My blood is literally boiling. I checked my temperature with the cooking thermometer and it is 38 degrees, though that might be because I was leaning against the radiator.

I cannot let this stand. I have cracked my knuckles, poured myself a glass of Ribena (in a wine glass, to help me think), and I am preparing a thread post. I shall quote Orwell, Dickens, and perhaps a bit of Jean-Paul Sartre to really hammer the point home. These digital peasants do not realize who they are dealing with. I am not just a boy; I am a heavy-weight thinker in a dressing gown.

My mother shouted up the stairs to ask if I had washed my school socks. I told her to be quiet, as I am currently engaging in high-level discourse that could shape the future of cycling in the South Africa. She told me to "get a grip." She has no idea of the burden I carry.

---

 

tuesday 18th November

 

11:45 PM

I am exhausted. I have spent six hours waging war on the forum. I have neglected my algebra homework, and the dog has not been walked since yesterday.

The ignorance of the general public is staggering. I offered up my concise theory of why the BikeHub needs to look after the little guy and go for the big rich chops. I even brought in my NPS expertise but that did not deliver the hammer blow I expected. One chop poster replied with a picture of a cat looking confused and the acronym "TL;DR."

I had to look this up. It stands for "Too Long; Didn't Read." The irony of him using a semi-colon in the acronym seems to be lost on his tiny, insect-like brain.

I tried to point this out to the other forum members, but they have turned on me.One user told me I sound like "a right mood hoover." I explained that I am an existentialist, not a vacuum cleaner, but nobody seems to be listening. I am casting pearls before swine. My head is throbbing. I think I am developing a stress-induced ulcer.

---

 

Wednesday 19th November

 

4:15 PM

It is over. I am a broken man.

I checked the thread during my ICT lesson today, intending to deliver a final, crushing blow regarding the micro economic factors a play. Instead, since I found that not a single person agrees with me I figured there is no point arguing with idiots as they will just drag me down to their level.

I am burning with shame. I can feel the heat radiating off my ears. To be silenced by an intellectual inferior is a bitterness I would not wish on my worst enemy, not even Barry Kent. I know, in my heart of hearts, that I am right. Without the fair market practices, civilization slides into chaos. But the mob has won.

I am too frightened to even open the laptop. I am scared Hairy is out there, laughing at me, probably using nothing but commas and dashes like a barbarian. I have retreated to my bed. I have eaten three Kit-Kats in a row and I feel sick. I could use all my separate accounts to actually support my argument, but that would take a lot of thinking and that might be wasted on these roll mops.

The world is not ready for my genius.

[NotSoBigBen]

Bloody hell man @Shebeen 😂😂😂😂 - you owe me!

[Pandatron]

Surprised the Cape Epic didnt get a shot as well

[Guest Mike Dewing]

1 hour ago, Shebeen said:

The Secret diary of Adrian @Mo79, aged 13 and three quarters:

Monday 17th November

 

10:15 PM

I have just had enough of the BikeHub policy with dealer registration. They want me to pay as a dealer, and even though I now have 5 different profiles to jump through their hoops and avoid costs it is still just not fair on a small scale guy like me.

My blood is literally boiling. I checked my temperature with the cooking thermometer and it is 38 degrees, though that might be because I was leaning against the radiator.

I cannot let this stand. I have cracked my knuckles, poured myself a glass of Ribena (in a wine glass, to help me think), and I am preparing a thread post. I shall quote Orwell, Dickens, and perhaps a bit of Jean-Paul Sartre to really hammer the point home. These digital peasants do not realize who they are dealing with. I am not just a boy; I am a heavy-weight thinker in a dressing gown.

My mother shouted up the stairs to ask if I had washed my school socks. I told her to be quiet, as I am currently engaging in high-level discourse that could shape the future of cycling in the South Africa. She told me to "get a grip." She has no idea of the burden I carry.

---

 

tuesday 18th November

 

11:45 PM

I am exhausted. I have spent six hours waging war on the forum. I have neglected my algebra homework, and the dog has not been walked since yesterday.

The ignorance of the general public is staggering. I offered up my concise theory of why the BikeHub needs to look after the little guy and go for the big rich chops. I even brought in my NPS expertise but that did not deliver the hammer blow I expected. One chop poster replied with a picture of a cat looking confused and the acronym "TL;DR."

I had to look this up. It stands for "Too Long; Didn't Read." The irony of him using a semi-colon in the acronym seems to be lost on his tiny, insect-like brain.

I tried to point this out to the other forum members, but they have turned on me.One user told me I sound like "a right mood hoover." I explained that I am an existentialist, not a vacuum cleaner, but nobody seems to be listening. I am casting pearls before swine. My head is throbbing. I think I am developing a stress-induced ulcer.

---

 

Wednesday 19th November

 

4:15 PM

It is over. I am a broken man.

I checked the thread during my ICT lesson today, intending to deliver a final, crushing blow regarding the micro economic factors a play. Instead, since I found that not a single person agrees with me I figured there is no point arguing with idiots as they will just drag me down to their level.

I am burning with shame. I can feel the heat radiating off my ears. To be silenced by an intellectual inferior is a bitterness I would not wish on my worst enemy, not even Barry Kent. I know, in my heart of hearts, that I am right. Without the fair market practices, civilization slides into chaos. But the mob has won.

I am too frightened to even open the laptop. I am scared Hairy is out there, laughing at me, probably using nothing but commas and dashes like a barbarian. I have retreated to my bed. I have eaten three Kit-Kats in a row and I feel sick. I could use all my separate accounts to actually support my argument, but that would take a lot of thinking and that might be wasted on these roll mops.

The world is not ready for my genius.

Oh mate.!! I’m frothing for the next chapter☠️🤣🤣🤣

[Paul Ruinaard]

i did like the lengthy explanation of NPS from the oracle to the heathens. It wasnt even AI generated - maybe it was in the economics exam. But the rabble didint appreciate his crusts of wisdom, and the poor heathens decided to savage the visionary and asserted rather he may have to put some hardening solution in his Ribena.

 

[Paul Ruinaard]

We are of course all patting ourselves on the back after seeing off the heathen. Maybe we should invite him back and give him a really good listening to 🙂